Magyari Márta szerk.: A Debreceni Déri Múzeum Évkönyve 2010 (2011)

TÖRTÉNETTUDOMÁNY - Nyakas Miklós: Bihari hajdúság - korai kurucság

BIHARI HAJDÚSÁG-KORAI KURUCSÁG 77 vül beadványukkal érdemben nem foglalkoztak, de törekvésük tovább élt egészen a jobbágyfelszabadításig.

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0 Nem véletlen, hogy 1848 őszén, amikor a nemzet önvédelmi harcának megszervezése terítékre került, Sillye Gábor, akkor Hajdúböszörmény város országgyűlési képviselője, hamarosan a hajdúvárosok kormánybiztosa, engedélyt kapott arra, hogy a tulajdonképpeni Hajdúkerületen kívül toborozhasson a bihari „követelő" kishajdúvárosokban is, valamint Kismarján.

31 A bihariak hajdú tudata ekkor még olyan szinten és fokon volt, hogy a dicső hajdú múlt emlékeire érdemes volt hivatkozni, s nem is eredmény nélkül. Sillye Gábor toborzótisztjeinek nagyszalontai látogatását, toborzásuk emlékét őrzi az akkor nagyszalontai nótárius Arany János egyik legszebb toborzóverse, a Beállottam a Bocskai csapatba kezdetű. Arany, aki magát hajdú ivadéknak tartotta, kötelességének érezte a szabadságharcot a hajdú múlt tudatos ápolásával is felvállalni.

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2 Miklós Nyakas Hajdú people of Bihar -early kuruc In this study author draws a parallel between the two large popular movements of 17th century Hungary, that of the hajdú and the kuruc people. Further to the numerous similarities there are several differences between the two movements. Both had its grounds in Eastern-Hungary, both had wide social embeddedness and the leaders of both movements could be found amongst the aristocracy. Significant difference is that the kuruc movement started in the last years of Turkish rule in Hungary and was strongly connected to the wartime efforts of the Habsburg Empire. The movement's popular base, the footsoldiers came from the discarded soldiers from fortresses, from Thököly's ex-fighters and from villeins struggling under the heavy burden of taxes. The author noticed that examining the uprising's timeline we find that one of the several early kuruc getting ups around the Upper-Tisza region happened to be exactly in Bihar. Why here? Perhaps because here there was a stronger influence ofthat groundless class (hajdús, discarded soldiers) which with the ousting of the turks lost not only its previous lifestyle, but also its social and legal standing were in danger, so they took up arms to protect these. At the breakout of the war the vagabunds, ex soldiers, runaway villeins lined up under Rákoczi's flag, so its base consisted of social groups that were somehow excluded from the feudal society. At this point the calamitous nature of the Habsburgs' new social set up was clearly felt. In any case it is worth noting that the first open kuruc getting up started in Diószeg, where Count Gronsfeld the emperor's general had been in charge since 1697, the count had a castle built for himself, confiscated the house of the protestant priest and seized land and vineyards in this settlement that according to the 1692 census was the second biggest place in Bihar after Debrecen with a fully Hungarian and protestant population. These events explain how the small hajdu towns of Bihar stood by the nation's cause and Rákóczi during the war of independence. None the least because Rákóczi openly admitted that he respects his predecessors and in general those priviliged and that he would rectify their sufferings. So the little hajdu settlements in Bihar had a good reason to believe that this applies to their disenfranchised condition as well. In kuruc times the name hajdu generally meant soldier, a member of the infantry, but its meaning changed when used in the case of the priviliged hajdu-towns and it also meant something else when referring to Rákoczi's hajdu-policy. Having said a few words about the latter and knowing the (folk)poetry's desire for the hajdu-freedom in Rákoczi's days, it can be said that it refers to the free, priviliged independent peasant condition, that Rákóczi himself used in order to keep the country in arms and that he acknowledged in the cases of Simontornya, Gönc, Tarpa and Diószeg. At any rate it is a fact that György Szabolcs Szunyogh landowner was commander-in-chief of the Bihari hajdu-cities' infantry and cavalry from 1704, and in 1708 Oláh Jakab János was considered for the same position in 1708 who at the time was the de facto leader of the hajdu-cities of Szabolcs. All these facts can not make us outrule the hypothesis that in the case of a victorious war of independence the hajdú cities of Bihar would recieve the same free region as their counterparts in Szabolcs. To summarise we can say that the kuruc movement's traditional region (UpperTisza region) has numerous similarities with Bihar and parts of Szabolcs where hajdú tradition was paramount. 30 Folyamodványukar a magyar országgyűléshez közli: Nyakas Miklós: A bihari kishajdúvárosok története .i.m. 310 - 314. 31 Nyakas Miklós: Sillye Gábor kormánybiztos tevékenysége és a hajdúvárosok önvédelmi harca 1848-ban és 1849-ben (Studia Oppidorum Haidonicalium I.) Hajdúböszörmény, 1999.225 p. 32 A vers hátteréhez Nyakas Miklós: Beállottam... Arany János toborzó verseinek történeti hátteréhez In: HMÉ. VIII. 1994.80-91. p.